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An estimated number of 1,274 people have been charged under the stringent blasphemy laws of Pakistan between 1986, from when they were included in the Constitution by General Zia ul Haq, until 2010.

Pakistan’s Penal Code Section dates back to pre-partition India when it was introduced in 1860. Section 295, better known as the Blasphemy Law, deals with religious offences and was meant to prevent religious violence. Prior to 1986, only 14 cases pertaining to blasphemy were reported.

The blasphemy laws include a death penalty for the defamation of the Holy Prophet and life imprisonment for the desecration of the Holy Quran.

Tahir Iqbal, a Christian convert from Islam and resident of Lahore, was accused of abusing Prophet Mohammad at the time of Azaan and imparting anti-Islamic education to children he tutored.

Iqbal was an engineer with the Pakistan Air Force before being paralysed and used a wheelchair. He lived near a mosque in Lahore and his change in religious affiliation had annoyed many. So much, that the local cleric accused him of abusing the Holy Prophet during azaan.

The case registered against him accused him of abusing the Holy Prophet, imparting anti-Islamic education to children who came to him for tuition and defiling the Holy Quran by underlining it with a green marker.

Iqbal was denied bail due to a misinterpretation of the PPC by a sessions court judge on the basis of his conversion and “since conversion from Islam into Christianity is itself a cognizable offence involving serious implications, hence I do not consider the petitioner entitled to the concession of bail at this stage."

However, the PPC does not recognise conversion as a recognisable offence. Even though his health condition had been certified by a medical officer, it did not have any affect on the court’s decision and he died in jail after allegedly being poisoned in July 1992.

1991:

Chand Barkat, 28, a bangle stall holder in Karachi, was accused of blasphemy by another bangle vendor, Arif Hussain, because of professional jealousy.

Barkat was denied bail for 15 months even though six Muslim witnesses had said in court that they had no proof he had committed blasphemy. He was finally acquitted in 1993 but had to go into hiding due to harassment by Muslim neighbours. According to reports, the accuser formed a group that wanted to kill Barkat after his acquittal which forced him to leave Karachi and go into hiding.

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Gul Masih, a eunuch from Faisalabad, was charged for using sacrilegious language about the Prophet and his wives. The complainant was Gul’s neighbor Sajjad Hussain who had a quarrel with him over the repair of a street water tap.

However, reports suggest that the two resolved the matter on the same day and the complaint was filed a few days later based on political motives. In an interview, Hussain denies that the matter had been resolved.

Gul and his brother Bashir were arrested on charges of blasphemy but Bashir was released due to lack of evidence against him and after villagers went to the police station to protest the innocence of the Masih family. In court, out of three eye witnesses, only the complainant accused Gul of blasphemy while the other two denied that they had heard or seen him do anything blasphemous.

AFP (File Photo)

Despite that, judge Talib Hussain Baloch sentenced him to death in 1992, making his case the first in Pakistan where the accused was put on death row. Baloch said in his judgement, “since Sajjad Hussain (the accuser) is a young man of 21, a student of B.A. and a true Muslim with a beard on his face and a good outlook, I find no reason to disbelieve him.”

Bashir was unable to find a job after this incident and reports say that Gul was tortured in prison. He was eventually acquitted but had to seek asylum in Germany.

1992:

Eighty-year-old philanthropist, Akhtar Hamid Khan, a Muslim, was arrested for allegedly committing blasphemy during an interview with an Indian journalist. Later, Khan was arrested again for blasphemy because he wrote a children’s poem that was interpreted as insulting the Prophet and his family.

Khan was a prominent social activist accredited with the Orangi Pilot Project and recipient of many international awards. He was first charged with blasphemy when a former employee, who had been fired, alleged that he had made blasphemous remarks in an interview. The only evidence for this was an inaudible audio recording, which was later declared unauthentic by the court.

Khan was accused of blasphemy for a second time when an Islamic cleric, Maulana Ehteramul Haq Thanvi said that a children’s story written by Khan was insulting Ali, the son-in-law of the Holy Prophet. The story, titled ‘Sher aur Ahmeq’, talks about a child who raises a lion. After he was charged, Khan clarified in an interview that the story was based on General Zia-ul-Haq and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

In 1992, both the cases against Khan were withdrawn on the federal government’s orders. Several Muslim clerics examined the evidence against him and concluded that he had not committed any sort of blasphemy.

**
Naimat Ahmar, 43, was a Christian teacher in Faisalabad. Naimat’s collegaues, unhappy with his professional success, convinced a student, Farooq Ahmed, that Naimat had committed blasphemy and urged him to take the law into his own hands.

Ahmed believed Naimat had uttered insults against the Prophet and stabbed him to death. He was jailed for 14 years and was reportedly praised in prison for his act.

A woman holds a placard during a rally in Lahore. – Reuters (File Photo)

**
During the same year Bantu Masih, 80, and Mukhtar Masih, 50, were arrested on the allegation of committing blasphemy. Bantu was stabbed eight times at a Lahore police station and at the hospital, the police reportedly convinced him not to file a case against his attacker in order to escape blasphemy charges. However, he succumbed to his injuries shortly. Mukhtar was tortured to death in police custody.

1993:

In February, Anwar Masih hailing from Samundri, Punjab was arrested for alleged blasphemy after a quarrel with a shopkeeper. Masih had converted to Islam twice before converting to Christianity again and the case against him was filed by Haji Mohammad Tayyab, a local leader of the Anjuman Sipah-e Sahaba (ASS), who had heard about the quarrel.
Masih was accused of insulting Islam during an argument with Mohammad Aslam, a shopkeeper.

**
S

alamat Masih, 11, Manzoor Masih, 38, and Rehmat Masih, 44, were accused of writing blasphemous remarks on a wall belonging to a mosque. The complaint was filed by a parayer leader at the mosque who alleged that they had written insulting remarks about Islam on paper and thrown them inside the local mosque and later also written on the walls on the mosque.

Salamat Masih and Manzoor Masih were completely illiterate but despite that all three were arrested in May. The imam of the mosque said that he had removed the writings on the wall because they were blasphemous.

Salamat was released on bail as he was a minor and Manzoor and Rehmat were realeased on bail in January 1994.

Manzoor was shot dead outside the District and Sessions Court after exiting a hearing in April. Salamat and Rehmat got injured but survived. In February 1995, Salamat and Rehmat were given the death sentenced but were later acquitted by the Lahore High Court, based on the objectionable material since Christians were not familiar with Arabic, they would not know how to write the name of Allah in Arabic. They subsequently fled the country after receiving death threats.

In 1997, Justice Arif Iqbal Bhatti was assassinated in his chambers at Lahore High Court allegedly for defending Rehmat and Salamat Masih. In 1998, police arrested a man Sher Khan, who confessed to having killed the judge because he had acquitted Rehmat and Salamat Masih. However, Khan mysteriously disappeared from police custody.

**
In November 1993, Riaz Ahmad, his son, and two nephews from the Ahmadi community were arrested in Mianwali District for their blasphemous remarks. In 1997, the Supreme Court granted bail to Ahmed, his son and nephews.

1994:

Hafiz Farooq Sajjad, a Muslim, was stoned to death after a Quran in his house caught fire. The local mosque announced that a Christian had burned the Quran and a mob gathered outside Sajjad’s house.

Sajjad was beaten by the mob after which the police came and took him into custody. However, the mob reached the police station and pelted Sajjad with stones, eventually setting him on fire. The police had fled for safety by this point.

1995:

In July of 1995, Catherine Shaheen, a teacher in Lahore, was denied her salary as she was accused of blasphemy. Although she was not formally charged, Shahaeen has been in hiding since then.

1996:

Ayub Masih, a brick layer, was arrested when his neighbours accused him of propagating Christianity and inviting people to read Salman Rushdie’s “The Satanic Verses”.

A Muslim neighbour filed the charge against him saying that during a private conversation, Masih had said Christianity was better than Islam and praised Rushdie’s novel. According to Masih, he was falsely accused so his land could be taken away.

In 1997, the complainant shot at Masih outside a court in Sahiwal but no harm was done.

In 1998, Masih was sentenced to death but in April his sentencing was suspended after the suicide of Bishop John Joseph. Joseph committed suicide to protest against Masih’s sentence.

In 1999, he was attacked in jail by four other people sentenced to death but no action was taken against the attackers.

In 2002, Masih was acquitted after his lawyer argued that the charge was based on verbal testimony with no supporting evidence.

2000:

Younus Shaikh, a physician, was charged with blasphemy on account of remarks that students claimed he made during a lecture.

According to reports, during a lecture Shaikh said the Prophet Mohammad was not a Muslim until he was 40 years of age when he received the first message from God.

A judge ordered that Shaikh pay a fine of 100,000 rupees and be executed. Shaikh asked for a retrial and was acquitted in 2003 and fled to Europe for safety reasons.

2002:

A 55-year-old Muslim cleric, Muhammad Yousuf Ali, was allegedly shot dead by a member of Sipah-i-Sahaba in Lahore prison after being accused of committing blasphemy.

Ali had been vocal in condemning religious violence and the case against him was filed by a militant group who disagreed with his views. He had been sentenced to death in August 2000.

**

Illustration by Faraz Aamer Khan

In July of the same year, additional sessions judge in Lahore imposed death penalty and a fine of Rs500, 000 on Anwar Kenneth, a former officer of the Fisheries Department, in a blasphemy case. He was found distributing a brochure titled Gospel of Jesus and claimed to be a prophet. Reports suggest that he was mentally unwell.

2003:

Samuel Masih, a Christian, was arrested for allegedly defiling a mosque by spitting on its wall.

While in police custody Masih contracted tuberculosis and was sent to Gulab Devi Chest Hospital for treatment. He was killed by a police officer, Faryad Ali, who was one of the guards escorting him. He used a hammer to kill him in the presence of other officers and claimed that it was his duty as a Muslim to kill Masih.

According to Masih’s family, they were informed of the death two days after it happened. Ali was arrested under formal murder charges.

**
Police arrested Anwar Masih, a Christian and charged him under Section 295 after a neighbour reported to the police that Masih had insulted the Holy Prophet.

The case against him was registered by Naseer Ahmed who had converted from Christianity to Islam. There was reportedly some enmity between the two since before.

Masih was acquitted in 2004 and had to go into hiding.

**
Munawar Mohsin, journalist from KPK working for Frontier Post, was sentenced to life imprisonment for writing an article on blasphemy which triggered nationwide protests.

He wrote a letter titled “Why Muslims hate Jews” which allegedly criticized Islam. The Frontier Post issued an apology but a case was registered against the journalist anyway. In addition to life imprisonment, Mohsin was also fined Rs 500,000.

2005:

In August 2005, an anti-terrorist court found Younus Sheikh guilty of disrespecting the Quran after he wrote a book ‘Shaitan Maulvi’ which mentioned that the concept of stoning to death after committing adultery does not exist in Islam. The judge imposed a fine of Rs 100, 000 rupees and sentenced him to lifetime imprisonment.

**

Illustration by Faraz Aamer Khan

In November, Pervez Aslam Chaudhry — a lawyer known for defending alleged blasphemers — was allegedly charged with flinging a matchstick on an Islamic school and was assaulted outside the Lahore High Court. He had previously been threatened and assaulted also.

2006:

Qamar David was arrested after some Muslims claimed that they received blasphemous text messages from him. He was given a life imprisonment sentence in 2010 and passed away in jail in 2011 due to a cardiac arrest according to reports.

**
In September, Shahid Masih was accused of tearing a book which contained Quranic verses. He was beaten by a police officer while in jail and acquitted in 2007 after no evidence was found against him.

2007:

Martha Bibi from the district of Kasur was accused of making derogatory remarks against the Holy Prophet. Reports suggest that the complaint was filed by contractors who did not want to pay her for materials they had bought from her. She was released on bail.

**
Salamat Masih, aged 45, along with four other Christians was charged with blasphemy for desecrating posters featuring Allah’s name.

**
In April, Sattar Masih, 28, was assaulted and sentenced for alleged blasphemy in Kotri city. He was arrested after a mob stormed his house but later in January 2009, the accusations were found baseless and he was released.

**
In May, nursing school at PIMS was shut down and seven members of the staff suspended after students from Jamia Hafsa accused them of desecrating Islamic posters.

Muhammad Imran was arrested from Faisalabad for allegedly burning the Holy Quran. He was tortured for three days and later kept in solitary confinement.

2008:

An Ahmadi, Altaf Hussain, was arrested for alleged desecration of Holy Quran from Kabir Wala town of Khanewal.

**
In April, Jagdesh Kumar, 25, was beaten to death by Muslim workers in a factory located in Karachi. He was accused of making blasphemous remarks.

2009:

Punjab police arrested a labourer along with four students belonging to Ahmaddiya community. They were accused of writing prophet’s name on walls a Sunni mosque’s washroom.

Two Christians, both elderly men from Faisalabad, Punjab, were acquitted by the Lahore High Court in April.

**
Following the alleged desecration, an angry mob torched 75 houses owned by Christians. At least seven Christians were torched alive during the riots.

File Photo

**
In August of 2009, an angry mob broke into the house of an old woman in district Sanghar. She was accused of desecrating the Quran.

2010:

In July, the Lahore High Court ordered the release of 60-year-old Zaibun Nisa, a woman who was jailed in 1996 on a charge of blasphemy on a complaint that the Quran had been defiled because of the lack of evidence.

**

Members of the Pakistan Christian Democratic alliance march during a protest in Lahore on December 25, 2010, in support of Asia Bibi. – AFP

Asia Bibi, the first Christian woman arrested and sentenced to death by hanging on a charge of blasphemy. Asia was accused of committing blasphemy after an argument at the farm where she worked.

Asia is still in jail and the case has sparked international reactions.

People rally to condemn the death of Pakistan's government minister for religious minorities Shahbaz Bhatti during a rally in Lahore. – AP

**
Shahid Nadeem, a school teacher in Faisalabad was accused of tearing up pages from Quran.

2012:

A mentally unstable man was torched alive for alleged blasphemy near Bahawalpur in July. The mob took the man from a police station where he was under custody on blasphemy charges after burning pages from the Quran.

**
Rismha Masih was accused of blasphemy and arrested by the police from a village near Islamabad. Rimsha was arrested because she was allegedly burning pages from the Quran.

However, a cleric, Hafiz Mohammad Chishti was later arrested for framing her by planting pages from the Quran in her bag.

Rimsha was cleared after the police said they had no evidence against her and the case was dropped after the Islamabad High Court ordered the FIR against her to be dismissed due to lack of witnesses.

In March 2013, Rimsha was granted asylum in Canada and she left Pakistan with her family. Later in the year, the cleric who had accused her, Chishti, was cleared of blasphemy charges after a court did not find sufficient evidence against him.

Haji Nasrullah, who owns a market at Hala Naka area off National Highway and is the chairman of a local shopkeepers association was booked after Kolachi Khan lodged a complain against him.

He hadobjectedto closing his shop when in protest against the anti-Islam film.

**

A teenage Christian boy, Ryan Stanten, was accused of sending text messages which had blasphemous contents. After the texts were circulated, an angry mob set fire to his house. However, the family had already fled and the police stopped the protestors from causing further damage by registering a blasphemy case. The boy, who said he had forwarded the text messages without reading them, has been arrested and his mother has been fired from her job.

Arfa Iftikhar, a teacher was forced into hiding after being accused of blasphemy for giving a piece of homework which insulted Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). The headmaster of the school, Asim Farooqi, was arrested on charges of blasphemy after which the school publicly announced it had nothing to do with the offending piece and fired Iftikhar.

**

After a trial spread over 14 months, Additional District and Sessions Judge Raja Pervez Akhtar jailed a blasphemy accused for 10 years and imposed a fine of Rs 200,000. Convict Ghulam Ali Asghar, a resident of Chinji village in Talagang tehsil, was booked on Nov 17, 2011, on a charge of blaspheming the Holy Prophet (PBUH) by misquoting a Hadith in Punjabi language.

Ghulam Ali Asghar was acquitted under 295-C, but imprisoned him for ten years under 295-A (which forbids outraging religious feelings). The convict will have to undergo an additional jail term of six months if he does not pay the fine.

**

A 35-year-old man detained in a lock-up in a Quran desecration case was beaten to death and his body was torched by a lynch mob who stormed the Rajo Deero police station.

Officials said over 1,000 people from Sita village and its surroundings attacked the police station at 8am to take out from the lock-up the man who had been handed over to the police some hours earlier by Memon Masjid area residents while accusing him of setting fire to the Quran.

Comments (44) Closed

The silence is deafening.
And that from a people who are vociferous in their protest.

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Samad Chaudhry

Sep 20, 2012 11:17am

Agree with you
At my age of 81 I have seen a lot
Alas! these hypocrates

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Pakistani

Sep 19, 2012 04:43pm

I am a Muslim and it makes me sick to read this. Most of these people are innocent and sacrificed their lives for some one else's greed or personal grudge. People are absolutely misusing and misinterpreting the law.

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Hassan

Sep 19, 2012 04:21pm

Responsibility of all this violence also falls on the people who remain quiet on this topic. We call ourselves Muslims but half of these mobs don't understand the religion and the prophet himself. It is a known fact that people have used this law to their favor against their enemies with whom they had a jealousy or fight.

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David

Sep 20, 2012 11:44am

So, even if the court aquits, the mob would still lynch those accused. So it is the public opinion on the blasphemy that need to be addressed. I do not think readers of this newspaper represent or share the opinion of the majority of the population of Pakistan. It is a pity, I do not think you guys can easily convince the rest.

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Arun

Sep 20, 2012 08:16am

lol......

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Arun

Sep 20, 2012 08:15am

Agree Kamal Bhai,...... we need to be more liberal in the way how we perceive things, Religion was created by Man himself & as we all know we exaggerate thing which favours us........ lets start respecting humanity

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Arun

Sep 20, 2012 08:08am

God Save Islam & its followers........ Hope all of you guys starts treating people as humans & not basis the religion they represent, even one has their own diff faith & we should respect them for that.......

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m. mushtaq haji

Sep 20, 2012 08:04am

Clash of mullas and people is eminent

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Kashif Chohan

Sep 20, 2012 07:55am

that Pakistan's Blasphemy law is properly being abused by Muslims to fulfil their personal vendettas.

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Aqeel

Sep 20, 2012 07:03am

What does the writer want to say???

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Saad

Sep 20, 2012 06:21am

This is a good article but far from comprehensive. The Blasphemy laws were made by Zia ul haq to discriminate against the Ahmadiyya community. It was to appease the extremist mullah and look where they have brought the country. You have mentioned quite a few people who have been wrongly implicated in these laws but have failed to mention countless cases where Ahmadi's have been convicted, murdered and in several cases imprisoned without trial for many years without a shred of evidence produced against them.
The quote by Martin Niem

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Dan

Sep 20, 2012 06:20am

Great job of compiling the date and listing it out.
Somebody should show this to Imran Khan, PTI supporters and other people who are convinced that Blasphemy law misuse started as a reaction to the US led war in Afghanistan. Somebody needs to show them this article that there have been many instances of an abuse of the Blasphemy law predating the US led invasion. The problem of intolerance is not external but internal to the country.

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Leftist

Sep 20, 2012 05:10am

Such sad state of affairs. Makes me wonder who will be next ??!!

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hanifhunzai

Sep 20, 2012 04:27am

We are living in a country, where every thing is double standard! and its because of all of us. no body to blame, we have shaped out own double standard ISLAM.. :-(

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Tariq

Sep 20, 2012 03:38am

Every one loves his life

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Amir

Sep 20, 2012 03:27am

I am stunned! What I do find interesting is the incomplete application of the law. If the law is "Islamic" then the court should punish the witnesses and the complainant when it releases an accused for lack of evidence. Almost all Islamic laws have that injunction. The accused is liable for one half of the punishment.

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Mera BHARAT Mahan

Sep 20, 2012 02:11am

ALLAH in logo ko hidayet de...

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Mera BHARAT Mahan

Sep 20, 2012 01:56am

Pakistan is a country of HYPOCRITES....

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muneer

Sep 20, 2012 01:41am

if only muslims practiced the meaning of Bismillah-ur-Rahman-ur-Rahim, Allah the most merciful, the most beneficient, they would be more tolerant and respected by others who do not follow the faith

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Vikram

Sep 20, 2012 12:56am

Pakistanis trying to protect poeple charged with blasphemy can be killed for supporting blasphmer. A businessman who refused to join protest against that Internet movies has been charged with Blasphemy. Pakistan is a land of pure.

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Paki dada

Sep 20, 2012 12:23am

very very sad and shameful - Shame on General Zia and those that support this BLASPHEMOUS law!

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brighton rodeo

Sep 20, 2012 12:17am

I used to play with my muslim friend during high school years. They are living now. I asked them question about the situation of blaming and imposing blasphemeous accusations. One of them said,
" president and prime minister cannot do any thing what we can do" We all are tired and sick of them

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Saad

Sep 19, 2012 10:29pm

Atrocious...People need to start using their heads!

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Abbas

Sep 19, 2012 09:11pm

I believe we must give full chance to all the minorities of Pakistan and blasphemy law must be 100 % abuse proof for every one in pakistan so the innocent cannot be harmed plus we as Muslims must not have death as a capital punishment in Pakistan. Only life sentence is ok .

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Annoyed

Sep 19, 2012 08:58pm

Pakistan is no longer a country worth living in, these people need to free themselves from the hatred and discrimination and turn towards patience and mutual respect for each other belief..

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sal

Sep 19, 2012 08:58pm

No pakistani will comment because all agree with it...or are too afraid too. What a country!

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sb

Sep 19, 2012 08:27pm

This is simply unbelievable! I cannot believe that things like this happen in Pakistan.

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Almanar

Sep 19, 2012 07:48pm

If in the case of Rimsha they have arrested someone then why the case is still underway?? Pakistan is fast becoming a black hole. It will suck in everybody eventually.

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hammad

Sep 20, 2012 01:39pm

so should we remove this law ??? may be some people use it for personal revenge ,
what you say ,what should we do in this circumstances??

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Junaid

Sep 19, 2012 06:28pm

Report by??

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SAUD

Sep 19, 2012 05:26pm

this LAW PERFECT

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Kamal Hassn

Sep 19, 2012 05:09pm

This is the way we represent Islam before the world and you expect them to be nice with our religion ?

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p r sharma

Sep 19, 2012 02:41pm

Any thing related to blasphemy is untouchable in public life.

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Irfan

Sep 19, 2012 02:20pm

What can you say? It's a law that is being misused against the minority but the Pakistani government is too scared to do anything

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Zimbo_Indian

Sep 19, 2012 01:38pm

If I was a Pakistani (of any faith), I would have fled the country after reading this article. Pakistan is fit only for those who have have no other choice.

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Zimbo_Indian

Sep 19, 2012 01:35pm

The judge's comments demonstrate either extreme bigotry and foolishness or they demonstrate extreme cowardice (trying to save himself from the mobs). In either case, with such a judiciary Pakistan is doomed.

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KKRoberts

Sep 19, 2012 01:28pm

If a man gets mad, he can be treated in a mental hospital.If a country gets mad,there is absolutely no treatment....

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Azhar

Sep 20, 2012 10:01am

All murders in the name of blasphemy are states responsibilty. Zia and state be charged with murder/killings sprung from this law.

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Procastinator

Sep 19, 2012 01:20pm

"Baloch said in his judgement,

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Rattan(Sydney)

Sep 19, 2012 01:00pm

seems like everyone is mute on this subject

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Laeeq,NY

Sep 20, 2012 11:33am

Ignorance at its peak. May Allah help us to understand and follow the true meaning of Islam.

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Ahmad Ali Naqvi

Sep 19, 2012 04:30pm

I fail to understand the muted response of the state and enlightened people in Pakistan. State will have to stand up to this or wait for a day, when even talk of democracy will constitute a blashphemy

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Dr. Emile Unjom

Sep 19, 2012 01:52pm

Debate over Blasphemy law is no blasphemy. The blasphemy law introduced before the partition by the British was to promote religious harmony and quell religious violence, Zia Ul Haq, introduced it for his nefarious ends and purposes. Eversince, Pakistan has plunged in to its darkest days, moved counter to what was envisioned by Quaid E Azam in his 11th of Aug speech. In the absence of convictional moral leadership like Mandela and Quaid E Azam,
we can only wish and hope for better days to return and that we may learn to live with peace and harmony serving and respecting our divergent and different religious beliefs promoting a spirit of brotherhood, strenghtening the concept of one Pakistani nation with different religions,beliefs,sects,cultures,languages,and regions as envisaged by our Quaid. May be, there is still time to think and move away from the path which ensures doom and gloom for all of us.
Just think about it. It costs nothing. Let us make Pakistan, Quaid's Pakistan.